Hichilema launches programme to give 100,000 Zambians free spectacles

President Hakainde Hichilema has procured 100,000 pairs of spectacles for Zambians who cannot afford them, under a new programme to widen access to eye care across the country.

The HH Vision 100,000 Programme will support learners, families, older people, military personnel, persons with albinism and other vulnerable groups living with poor eyesight.

Addressing the Zambia Ophthalmological Society Annual Conference in Lusaka virtually, the President said more than six million Zambians need spectacles. One in five schoolchildren struggles to see the blackboard, and one in three adults lives with poor vision.

“Vision is freedom, vision is productivity,” President Hichilema said. “This programme is about giving back sight, restoring dignity and opening doors of opportunities for our people.”

He said poor eyesight holds people back at school and at work, and described the initiative not as charity but as a matter of social justice. No Zambian, he said, should miss out on opportunities simply because they cannot afford a pair of glasses.

The President urged anyone with sight problems to visit their nearest health facility, where those unable to pay will receive spectacles free of charge.

Schoolchildren and military personnel will be among the first to benefit. The programme has already been piloted in recent months at New Jack Secondary School in Chawama, Kabanana Secondary School in Mandevu and Chitanda Secondary School in Matero, as well as at Mikango Barracks, Mount Eugenia and the Shimabala area.